First Hand Account from London

Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave people of the United Kingdom.


Just finished speaking with the world's best twin brother (that would be mine), who lives in Belgravia, London (with an office in Mayfair).

His observations are as follows: There is shock today in the UK, but not anything approaching the level of 9/11, particularly because Londoners lived for years with the threat of IRA bombings.

And despite the obvious coordination and multiple hits from the jihadists, he noted that some aspects of the attack had been poorly planned for maximum casualties. For one thing, the attacks focused on almost exclusively soft targets, not at the economic heart of the city (or the areas that would have devastated city life). And by the time the bombs went off, the bulk of the people commuting to the financial district were already at work. In fact, some aspects of the attack were so amateurish that many people believed at first that the antiglobalists, rather than the Islamofascists, were behind them.

As for the mood of the citizenry, my twin brother described it as "shocked but brave." One explanation for the relatively high morale is that fatalities are lower than most people initially believed upon hearing the first reports of the attack. (However, one issue that he raised that hasn't been addressed elsewhere, to my knowledge, is the potential long term public health implications of the explosions, as the tube in London is lined with asbestos).

Nor has the closure of the public transportation system significantly impacted the public mood. Apparently, Londoners are used to transportation headaches resulting from strikes by tube workers -- so many commuters already have contingency plans for getting to work.

My brother and sister-in-law posited that there may be more of a backlash against Muslim residents of London than we saw in the United States for two reasons -- the community is both larger and more segregated than it is here. And they also predicted that the sense of fear would be heightened if it turned out that the attacks had been perpetrated by suicide bombers, rather than by packages -- both because Londoners have some familiarity with package bombs from the IRA days, and because the Muslim community is large enough that it's impossible to effectively predict or prevent suicide attacks (or even keep an eye on potential suicide bombers).

My twin predicted that by Monday, the city will be back to normal, albeit with a heightened sense of vigilance. When he drove back to his office around 5 pm London time, people were walking in the street, busses were running, and there was even a jogger proceeding up Picadilly.

He predicts that the Brits will remain "steadfast" and even suggested that the attacks may offer those on the left a different perspective on terrorism altogether.